Starbucks Bets on Asia-Pacific Growth

By

Kathy Chu

Feb. 18, 2013 6:44 a.m. ET

HONG KONG—Starbucks Corp. expects to more than double its number of employees in the Asian-Pacific region to 40,000 people over the next five years, a sign that the Seattle chain anticipates that coffee consumption will accelerate even as major economies in the region slow.

The region "has been a growth engine and will continue to be a growth engine, despite economic uncertainty," said Jinlong Wang, the company's...